Meat-hanger.



No. 891,307. PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

i T. WALSH.

. MEAT HANGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.30. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHBET 1.

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' No. 891,307. PATENTED JUNE 2a, 1908. T. WALSH.

MEAT HANGER.

' APPLICATION 31mm MAR. 30. 1906.

\ 2 SHEETS+SHEBT 2.

Wm y fm UNITED s Arss PATENT OFFICE.

ILLINOIS, A OO R POR THOMAS WALSH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A$SIGNOR TOSWIFT AND COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ATION OF ILLINOIS.

MEAT-HANGER.

Specification of T 0 all whom it"may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WALSH, a citizen of the United States,residing at-Chicage, in the county of Cook andState of Illi* 1101s, haveinvented certain new and, useful Improvements in Meat-Hangers, of which"the following is a specification, reference be: ing-had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a paratus used for suspending meats during teirtreatment in the manufacture of bacon and analogous products, and ithas for its ob'ect to provide a new and improved hanger w ich mayreadily be applied to the meat, and which will properly suspend itduring the subsequent steps in its treatment. v

More particularly it is my object to provide a meat hanger suitable foruse in carrying out the method which forms the subjectmatter of myapplication of even date herewith.

In the manufacture of bacon the 'meat after being subjected to the usualpreliminary steps is smoked, or'otherwise cured, and during the smokingoperation is suitably suspended so that al parts are subjected-to theaction of the smoke.-

Heretoforemuch difliculty has been en-' countered in devising a suitablehanger for suspending the .meat during the smoking 0 ration ,theavailable devices being objectionable for the reason that by their useit has been diflicult to control with certainty theshape of the productafter. smokin It is recognized in the trade that it is high y desirablefrom a commercial point of view to market the bacon or other analogousmeats in uniform and symmetrical shaped packages, but with the devicesheretofore emp oyed the meat when cured has been more or less irregular,which has made it necessary to do a considerable amount of trimming,with a consequent substantial loss.

To avoid the necessity of trimming the meat after smoking by controllingin ad Vance the shape of the finished product is the object of my saidapplication hereinbefore referred to, while my present application hasto do with a hanger particularly ada ted for use in carrying out my saidmet 0d. The method referred to consists, generally speaking, inlaterally contractin the meat at one end-portion of the piece an applyinto the contracted portion a device Letters Patent. Patented June 23,1908.

1906. Serial No. 308,900.

tracted condition,the idea being to compensate in advance for theshrinkage of the remainder of the piece. That is to say, the part towhich the hanger is ap lied is puckered or shrunk in advance, whi e theremain der of the piece is ermitted to shrink naturally during thecuring operation. The puck ered part, of course, shrinks during thecurin operation, but owing to the puckering this is not interfered withby the engagement therewith of the suspending device. The final resultis that all the parts in the piece shrink uniformly, and the finalproduct retains its original symmetrical shape. Furthermore, I avoidobjectionable puncturing of the rind by applying the hanger to the fleshside of the piece.

In the accompanyin drawings I have illustrated my improve apparatus .asemployed in the carrying out of my improved process or method abovereferred to, but I wish it to be understood that my present invention isnot restricted to use in carrying out such process, as it may be usedwholly independently thereof.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a perspective view of myimproved hanger; Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section, illustrating thehanger suspended without a load; Fig. 3 is a; similar view, showing'thecondition of the hanger with a piece of meat attached thereto; Fig. 4 isa horizontal section on line 44 of Fig. 3;. Fig. 5 is a perspectiveview, some parts being broken away, illustrating theuse of my improvedhanger in carryin out the process hereinbefore referred to; am Fig. 6isa perspective view, showing a modification.

As shown in Fig. 1, my improved hanger presse into the meat by theoperator ordinary pressure will cause them to enter tho flesh only.

The bar 7 is connected with the ends l--l() of a rod 11 which is in theform of a bail, as

arrange to maintain the meat in its conshown in Figs. 1 and (3. .In theconstruction portion 12 adapted to engage shown in Fig. 1 theintermediate portion of the rod 11. is bent upward to form an oll'set asupporting device, such as the hook 123: while in Fig. (3

l. have shown the intermediate portion ol the rod 11 as having a hook 13n'el'erably l'ormed by properly bending said rod. As best shown in Fig[1, the ends t1--- of the bail 11 he in a plane perpetnlicular to theplane ol' the intermediate portion of the bail 1.1, by which l mean theplane of the horizontal portion thereol' and the adjacent verticalportions 15 -16 thereof. The ends ..1 -10 are substantially in the planeof the teeth 8, as shown, and the points of the teeth are substantiallyin the plane of the end )ortions 1:")--- 16, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 2%. bar 7 is at one side of the intermediate portion ol' the bailand consetpiently when the hanger is suspended without a load itoccupies the position shown in Fig. 2,- -the teeth 5 being inclinedslightly upward l'rom the bar 7. When, however, the hanger is in use,the weight ol' the meat causes the intermediate portion 01' the hangerto assume a substantially vertieal position, as shown in Fig. I). Thetipping downward ol' the teeth or pins is thus avoided and the retentionol' the meat on the teeth assured. its also shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3,loops 17 ---1.\ are formed at the intersection of the end portions a-1t) with the vertical portions 15- 16, thereby increasing theresiliency ot' the hanger. It will be understood that the teeth andprelerably all parts ol' the hanger are tinned, or otherwisesuitablycoated, to protect them from the corroding action of the meatjuices.

in use the hanger is applied by pressing its teeth or pins into thellesh side of the piece of meat near one end thereol, so that the bailprojects beyond the end of the piece,----the bar 7 extendingtransversely thcreot'. Where my improved process is employed the sidesol the meat are pressed together so as to pucker the meat. to such anextent as to compensate for its probable shrinkage, and while sopuckeredthe teeth are pressed into it -the rind, however, not beingpunctured. The meat is then hung in the smokehouse, or other curingchamber, until itinished.

l have used the term bail to designate the connection by which the teethor the tooth-carrying bar are suspended from the it will thus be seenthat the- I hook or other support, but it is to be underf stood thatthat term is used in a generic. sense to identify such conneetionregardless of its 1 speeitio sha e, as except in so far as specifieallyclaimet i do not limit myself to makin the suspending device of theshape of a bail or to securing its ends to the ends of the bar or othertooth support. The arrangement of the parts of the hanger so that thetoothsupporting bar is outside the plane of the suspending device, bywhich I mean the vertical, or substantially vertical, plane in which thesuspending device normally hangs pendent, and causing the teeth toproject toward the plane of the bail so that the point of suspension otthe hanger lies more or less nearly over the points of the teeth and thenon-rotatable connection of the teeth or the tooth support with thesuspending device are important features of my invention and are alsoclaimed broadly.

'lhat which l claim as my invention and desire to secure by LettersPatent is,-

1,. A meat-hanger, comprising a suspending device, a bar outside theplane thereof and non-rotat ably connected therewith, and teeth carriedby said bar in a plane substantially perpeinlieular to and projectingtoward the plane of suspension of the suspending de vice.

.2. A meat-hanger, comprising a bail, a tooth-sup )ortiIn bar arrangedat one side of and parallel witi the plane of suspension of the bail,said bar being connected with said bail, and teeth carried by said barand proeeting toward the plane of suspension of the ail.

3. A meat-hanger, comprising a bail having its ends bent to form loopsarranged at an angle with the intermediate portion of the bail, and abar non-rotatably connected with the ends of the bail, said bar having aseries of teeth projecting toward and terminating at substantially thevertical plane of the bail.

4. A meat-hanger, comprising a bail, a bar outside the )lane thereof andnon-rotatably connected therewith, and teeth carried by said bar in aplane substantially perpendicular to and )ro'ec-t-ing toward thevertical plane of the bail THOMAS \VALSU.

Witnesses i. 0. BEAT'IY, BEN F. 'larr.

